33 is the magic number - the age when Brits think they can afford a house

Diane King

Published:12:53Monday 27 March 2017

The average age when Britons living in rented accommodation think they’ll be able to afford their own house is 33.

The survey by Spark Energy found that one in six respondents (17 per cent) don’t believe they will ever be able to raise the money to purchase property.

Indeed, people living in London and Manchester don’t expect to step onto the property ladder until they are 35, and 27 per cent of Welsh people believe that they may never be able to afford their own home.

With many people resigned to living in shared accommodation, many tenants would actually pay more per month to live with the perfect flatmate - with almost 70 per cent of survey respondents saying they’d fork out extra to find the ideal cohabiter.

Almost a quarter of (23.6 per cent) renters would splash-out over £201 per month on top of their rent for the ideal room-mate, while 22 per cent would pay between £1 and £99, with the average flat-sharer reckoning £112.40 would be their limit.

It was also said by 50 per cent of respondents that meeting potential housemates face-to- face is still the most successful method, with only one in six renters advocating websites as an effective finders’ tool.

Some of the other findings included: Being clean and tidy is the number one attribute of a good flatmate, according to 74.4 per cent of respondents.

Males prefer sharing with three people while females said two on average

And, 96 per cent of respondents like people they currently live with

The average amount of people the participants like living with is two and on average respondents have lived in three houses – although 12 per cent have lived in five or more properties.